This invention relates broadly to agricultural crop handling apparatus and, more specifically, to apparatus for temporarily storing cotton and other compactible materials in the form of modules.
Cotton is usually picked by a mechanical harvester which is driven along the row of cotton plants. The cotton is collected in a large basket or bin in the harvester. When the basket is filled, the cotton is dumped into a wagon and transported to the gin for subsequent processing. Since the seed cotton is transported to the gin soon after it is packed, the gin typically operates at full capacity during the harvesting season. However, since the season is relatively short, the gin remains idle between ginning seasons.
Various attempts have been made to handle the seed cotton more efficiently. For example, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,215,291, 3,412,532, and 3,422,751, devices have been provided for compacting the seed cotton in the basket of the harvester to thereby reduce the bulk of the cotton. This allows the harvester to operate for longer periods before dumping the basket but, unfortunately, does not overcome the problem of storing the cotton temporarily to provide for a lengthened ginning season. Mechanical compaction of other crops has also been proposed, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,556,327 which is primarily concerned with the compaction of hay. As in the case of the aforementioned patents, compaction associated with the device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,556,327 is not concerned with the particular problems associated with the stacking of cotton before being transported to a gin.
The use of a slip form to stack or rick cotton on the ground in the field as a means for temporarily storing the cotton has been attempted in the past, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,703,966. The slip form is a rectangular boxlike container which is open at the top and bottom and is open at one end thereof. Seed cotton is dumped from the harvester into the top of the form. The cotton inside the form is tramped down by manual means after each load is dumped into the harvester. When the form has been filled in this manner, the form is pulled endwise along the ground leaving behind a stack or rick of cotton extending through the open end of the form. The process is repeated until a rick of desired length has been produced. Although the use of the slip form permits the cotton to be stored in the field, the fact that manual labor is required for compacting the cotton results in a low density and uneven rick of cotton. This causes the rick to have a low degree of structural integrity and accordingly, the rick tends to come apart quite easily. Because the rick of cotton is difficult to handle, the savings in cost of extending the ginning season is reduced by the additional cost of handling the cotton after the rick is formed.
More recently a mechanical cotton stacking apparatus has been provided which includes a slip form for forming ricks of cotton wherein a mechanical compactor is positioned at the end of the form to compact the cotton proximate the end of the slip. This arrangement has a number of drawbacks including the fact that a rick of cotton is difficult to handle even when compacted mechanically and in addition, since only the cotton proximate the end of the slip form is compacted, the cotton remaining in the slip form at the end of the rick does not become compacted and will become wasted unless manually retrieved.
More recently, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,749,003, a cotton module maker has been provided. This device includes a box-like frame having a movable carriage on the top thereof. The carriage includes a compactor which moves vertically with respect to the frame to compact cotton positioned within the frame. After the module has been formed, the frame is moved to another position to form another module. This apparatus, while an improvement over the prior art, has a number of disadvantages including the fact that a rack and pinion arrangement is utilized for compacting the cotton, as opposed to an improved hydraulic system, no means are included for precisely controlling the rate of movement of the compactor with respect to the frame, and no means are disclosed for withdrawing the compactor mechanism including the pinion and ratchet assembly into the frame when the frame is being transported from one place to another.
It therefore is an object of this invention to provide an improved tramper mechanism for forming cotton modules.